Big Q Tip – How To Find Out About a Towns History
Hey Gang,
Time again for a Big Q Tip. This one might seem a little morbid to some, but trust me, this works. I’ve been lucky enough to have seen a fair share of this planet. When I was younger, and able to fit in airline seats, I would travel as much as I could. If I spent more than a day at some place I would like to find out about the history of the town. Sure, I could’ve gone to the library, but I’m a heavy breather, and they frown on that at the library. So, to find out a little history of the town, I would head down to the local graveyard.
This is not morbid. If you go to a graveyard you can find the families that have been in town a long time, whether they were wealthy or poor.
You can see how hard life was when the town was young. If you see a lot of stones of children who died young you know that it was a hard time, and a hard land.
Looking for this information will also tell you a little about crime in the community. Are they’re a lot of vandalized plots, Graffiti markings?
You can also find out what cultures are present in the community by looking at gravestones.
I found one in Scottsbluff Nebraska which, at first, I thought was a joke. It simply said Hamburger. I carried around a photo of the tombstone and would joke that if Burger King, or McDonalds, would fail to sell a burger before it went bad that they would send it to Scottsbluff to be buried. Later, when the internet was invented by the Gore guy, I did a little research and found that “Hamburger” is a family name in Scottsbluff.
The other thing I like to do is check the phone book to see if my last name is present, if it is, I would then check to see if there were any tombstone with my name on it. After all, if you think about it, it’ll be the only chance I get to see it from a “living” point of view.
Big Q Tip; Visit the local Cemetery for a touch of local history.